How do I know Jesus is real? As a Christian, I believe, but have been challenged by that age-old question. My answer is simple. Jesus has always been there for me, even before I was saved and didn’t realize it. He was there, never more so than when we lost my mother to liver failure at the age of 63, a bleak time for myself and my family. Mom needed a transplant, yet we couldn’t bring ourselves to pray for someone to die, so she could live. We put the decision in God’s hands.
My father and I went to the hospital every day. It didn’t matter that I had to drive an hour to pick up Dad and another hour’s drive to the hospital. We visited. The week Mom slipped into a coma, we still visited. When my brother and sister went to see her that weekend, there was no change in Mom’s condition. However, on Monday, Dad and I found her bright and alert. She spoke with us, and then she sent Dad away so I could have some quiet time with her. I’ll never forget what she said.
“Maggie, I had a visitor Saturday night.” A visitor? I knew my brother and sister were there, but Mom shook her head. “This was the middle of the night,” she said.
“Who, Mom?” I asked again.
Mom grew quiet. She smiled and held my hand. “Jesus.”
My breath caught. I felt as if my heart stopped beating, but I knew what she spoke was true.
“Jesus came and sat alongside me. I told him I wanted to go home.”
Where some might question such an occurrence, I never thought to do so. I believe Mom saw Jesus that night. Upon thinking more, I realized He visited me, also. Mom’s sickness took a toll on the entire family. Sleep was impossible. I often woke and sat at the table in the dark. Sometimes I prayed. Sometimes I forgot how to pray.
There didn’t seem to be an easy answer. But that Saturday night, I woke around three a.m., as I often did. Only instead of getting out of bed and sitting at the table, a comforting warmth spread over me. More like through me, you know? The feeling was all-encompassing, something I couldn’t deny if I wanted.
A soft voice whispered to my soul. “Everything is going to be OK.” That’s all. Those simple words by an unseen, but deeply felt presence, brought such a tranquil peace to my body and soul, I nodded and went back to sleep.
It was only after my visit with Mom, did I come to the realization that both of us, indeed, had a special visit from Jesus. He sat with my mother on her last lucid day on this earth. The last day she spoke to any of us. She passed later that week, and I knew she had gone home.
I remember a time when I was filled with shame and guilt and doubt because of the kind of life I was living. My husband and I attended a new church, a place we’d never set foot in before and there, in the quiet of the service, I heard God say, very plainly, “You are forgiven.”
Did that change my life? Not completely, but it did set me on the path to change. Isn’t that what faith is all about–changing as we get to know Him and hear His voice in whatever means He uses to speak to us?
When I start writing a book, I don’t always know the referencing scripture. Most of the time, I don’t even have a blurb or tagline or anything to develop the story around. I’m 100% panster when it comes to creating, but somewhere along the journey, these things fall into place (especially if I’m listening to the Holy Spirit, who guides my stories as well as my life). This is what happened with Kyleigh’s Cowboy. A secondary character, a young woman whose life has been anything but easy, comes to know the Lord from hearing His voice, even though she never knew Him before and had no idea at first WHO was talking to her! Thus, our defining or supporting scripture…
“The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have drawn you with loving-kindness.
Jeremiah 31:3
The Bible gives us many scriptures that assure us God speaks to those who “have ears to hear.” It also gives us vivid imagery of Jesus’ invitation to turn to Him and let Him into our hearts, minds, and lives. Let us be quick to listen and to act, but most importantly, to move toward Him instead of away in our darkest times.
Dear Lord, Whether audible, a whisper on the wind or a gentle knock on our hearts, may we be quick to hear, listen and obey Your voice.
She’s attempting to start a new life. He’s roamed for more than a decade. Can they let go of the past and grab hold of the future?
Seven years after the death of her husband, Kyleigh Winters turned their old vacation home into a brand new guest ranch. Not willing to join the ranks of lonely women trolling the bars or online in search of a man, Kyleigh is sure if God wishes her to have another husband, He’ll send the perfect someone in His own time. But will she be open to the possibility of new love when He does?
Searching for a place that calls to his soul, Lance Stevens has been a roaming cowboy for ten years since retiring from the Marines. He finds that sanctuary the moment he drives through the Silver Star’s gate and meeting the lovely owner speaks to more than his soul. Will he open to the healing power of love?
Get Pamela Thibodeaux’s second chance romance novella today and see how love and faith conquers all. Kyleigh’s Cowboy releases 10/18, but you can preorder it today!
Award-winning author Pamela S. Thibodeaux is the Co-Founder and a lifetime member of Bayou Writers Group in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Multi-published in romantic fiction as well as creative non-fiction, her writing has been tagged as “Inspirational with an Edge!” ™ and reviewed as “steamier and grittier than the typical Christian novel without decreasing the message.” Sign up to receive Pam’s newsletter and get a FREE short story!
Hi Stacey, thank you for having me here! I’m excited to share about my newest novel, A Dim Hope!
A Dim Hope is a story about not giving up—about pressing on. In the book, Amber, the main character in my story, is faced with many challenges. Not only does she face emotional challenges, but she’s also actually fighting for her life in a man-against-nature type plot. It is hard, and she wishes things were different. In fact, more than once, she is given the opportunity to back out of the adventure she’s been handed—to give up and go back to “normal.”
Of course, the problem with giving up is she would be returning to a “normal” full of problems. If she faces her challenges head-on, she might find the answers she needs to fix some of her problems.
Isn’t this how it is in life? We can settle for the status quo, but we won’t ever see things from the mountaintop. Maybe we don’t even have a choice to settle. Life has thrown us mighty challenges, and we do not get the choice to “give up.”
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:14
It is my sincere hope and desire that A Dim Hope will give encouragement to Christians to keep going. Don’t give up! No matter the challenges we face, through God, we will always be victorious.
Does Amber find victory over her challenges? I won’t spoil the story for you, but I will say she finds more than she could ever imagine when her trials began!
Amber is in trouble. Her sister is dying—and so is her homeland. The Lifeforce stones that power their world are waning, and no one knows why. When the rulers of the land prepare a scientific expedition to study the place where the veins of the Lifeforce run deep, Amber is forced to travel as a servant with the expedition. Though Amber has longed for adventure, her dream always included her sister. Now her only wish is to return home with a cure before it’s too late.
Crops are wilting, food is scarce, and sandstorms, avalanches, and earthquakes threaten to doom the expedition. Besides this, there are more sinister forces at work. Quiet arguments and missing supplies lead Amber to believe their efforts are being sabotaged. She uncovers clues, but the real source of their trouble—and hope—lies in places she never expected.
About the Author
KATIE CLARK started reading fantastical stories in grade school, and her love for books never died. Today she reads in all genres; her only requirement is an awesome story! She writes young adult speculative fiction, including her romantic fantasy novel, The Rejected Princess, her Beguiled Series, and her dystopian Enslaved Series. You can connect with her at her website or on social media @KatieClarkBooks.
Shame is not the word Gloria Sycamore would have chosen to describe the emotion that lingers deep inside her. She’s lived most of her life in the shadow of others, never quite fitting in, never quite belonging. But all that should change on her return to Sycamore Hill. She isn’t looking for a hero’s welcome, but she does expect a friendly one. After all, she is a Sycamore, and she’s dating the local minister. But the community questions her commitment to her faith, the town, and their pastor—who they are not keen on sharing. So, Gloria sets out to prove them wrong, navigating the messy and sometimes hilarious muddy water of dating in the public eye, where nothing is private, and everything is up for debate.
My connection to Gloria
His Sycamore Sweetheart is a work of fiction. That’s an important clarification. Yet, I had so much fun writing this story because I feel a deep connection to Gloria. I’m not only a pastor’s wife, but I’m also familiar with feeling tolerated instead of welcomed and not measuring up. I think, in many ways, there is likely a little bit of Gloria in us all. I feel it when I fail to speak up or stand up or absorb hits, secretly believing I must deserve them. Shame shows up when I overreact to expressions of displeasure with me. I long to please people, and if I can’t, I feel rejected. This is exasperated in church ministry, and I can easily feel worthless, nothing, zero. This is shame. This is Gloria’s reality.
Gloria struggles with the tension of wanting to break free from expectations while feeling pressed to conform to who people expect the pastor’s girlfriend to be. She tries to read between the lines to discern what people want from her. She struggles to understand what it means to serve others and consider them better than herself.
Gloria will feel a magnetic pull toward her familiar feelings of inferiority and unworthiness. She knows Christ has made her clean. She knows sins against her say far more about the accuser than her. She knows that one touch from Jesus has replaced her shame with his honour. Yet, the feelings return, resisting the truth. To battle this, she remembers the gospel. Jesus lowered himself to elevate her. Jesus doesn’t just remove her shame; He gives her His honour. He replaces shame with honour, so she can walk in freedom.
Join Gloria in Sycamore Hill. She’s willing to do anything to salvage her reputation except the one thing they are demanding. That she walks away from the man she loves.
I’m often asked about YA titles, and since I don’t write them, I’m always excited to promote one. I LOVE this cover, and I’m happy to welcome author Carol Raj to the blog.
“Why would I go to church? Those Christians are all hypocrites. Just look in the front pew.”
How often have you heard words like that? And could they possibly be true? To answer that, we have to define our terms. What is a hypocrite? And what is a Christian? A hypocrite is defined as a person who pretends to be something good – generous or loving or faithful — but is actually the opposite.
One of the most despicable characters in literature is Ebenezer Scrooge. He loved money and had no respect for other people. But was he a hypocrite? No. He never pretended to be generous. He was a miser and proud of it. And how do we define a Christian? The one thing every born-again Christian claims to be is a sinner. A sinner whose only hope for salvation is being washed in the blood of Jesus.
We may dress up when we go to church. We may smile on the outside while inside we’re sad, discouraged, or even angry. That only means we can overcome our inner flaws in an effort to make others comfortable. But it does not make us hypocrites. We claim to be sinners, and we are.
In Charlotte Masterson Gets a Life, high school sophomore Charlotte discovers that appearances can be deceiving. As she uncovers her boyfriend’s motivations and her strict mother’s shady past, her world is turned upside down. In the process, she discovers what true love is. True love. Sacrificial love. Like Jesus has for us.
Carol Raj published several stories in children’s magazines before her first YA novel, Charlotte Masterson Gets a Life. Part of her inspiration came from working in a public high school library. What an eye-opener! One student asked for a copy of one of Shakespeare’s plays. In English, please. Still another said he hated all the rules in the high school so he planned to join the army. Good luck with that one!
